Overview

"This monograph deals with the locative alternation in German, a change in the argument structure of verbs like ""spray"" and ""load"". Like most argument structure changes, the alternation is both productive and constrained: new forms may be derived, but not from all candidate verbs. This raises a learnability problem: how can children determine, in the absence of negative evidence, which verbs participate in the alternation? This book attempts to answer this question by providing an analysis of the conditions that verbs must meet in order to participate in the alternation. In addition, this book provides support for the ""nonindividuation hypothesis"" which splits locative verbs into two types, mass verbs and count verbs. It also provides evidence against claims that children acquire the alternation by drawing on an innate Affectness Linking Rule."

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9789027224811

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